FDA nominee Overton says all US vaccines safe as Senator Cassidy presses on shots

By Ahmed Aboulenein

WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) – Dr. Heidi Overton, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the embattled US FDA, told senators on Thursday that all vaccines on the US market are safe and effective, as the health committee’s Republican chairman pressed her on immunization at her confirmation hearing.

In his opening statement, US Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana pressed Overton to affirm the safety of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and to commit to keeping politics out of the agency’s decisions.

He criticized Overton for standing behind Trump when the president signed an executive order breaking up the childhood vaccine schedule into more doses, a move physicians’ groups and vaccine makers strongly oppose. Cassidy, himself a physician, said the order was based on “zero scientific evidence” and would raise costs for families.

Cassidy, noting Overton’s presence when Trump called the MMR shot “potentially quite lethal”, pressed the nominee on whether she would break with the president’s characterization of the vaccine at a time when the country is experiencing its worst measles outbreak in decades due to declining vaccination rates.

Overton affirmed its safety. “The MMR vaccine is not lethal,” Overton said.

“Yes, senator, the MMR vaccine is safe and effective,” she said. “Every vaccine on the US market right now are safe and effective according to the FDA,” she added, when Cassidy asked her if any were not.

Overton is also expected to be pressed on whether she would defy Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, or Trump, if ordered to take actions she deems unscientific or illegal. That question has become a fixture of recent confirmation hearings for Trump health nominees, and Cassidy indicated that he would be asking it on Thursday.

TRUMP’S ‘AMERICA FIRST’ PICK

Trump nominated Overton, a White House policy aide, in August, turning to an “America First” ally to steady an agency shaken by staff losses, low morale and fights over vaccines, the abortion pill and drug approvals.

If confirmed, Overton will take over a Food and Drug Administration that has lost more than 3,000 staff over the past year, including division heads, and is under pressure to rebuild confidence among industry and public-health groups.

The agency, responsible for regulating and approving all drugs, treatments and vaccines, has faced concerns it has become too political.

Overton, a preventive medicine physician and deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, previously worked at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. Her nomination coincides with new initiatives from Trump health officials on autism, vaccines and the abortion pill.

ABORTION PILL REVIEW LOOMS

Her anti-abortion views are expected to draw Democratic scrutiny and opposition from abortion-rights advocates. Overton called the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade “a huge victory for life,” and anti-abortion groups have welcomed her nomination.

If confirmed, Overton would inherit an FDA review of the abortion pill mifepristone that abortion-rights groups say is politically motivated and that could lead to tighter restrictions on the drug. The agency faces an October 7 deadline to update a federal court on its progress.

The committee was also scheduled to vote on Nicole Saphier, a radiologist and former Fox News contributor, for surgeon general, but delayed that vote to a later time.

Saphier, Trump’s third nominee, was grilled last week on childhood vaccines, voicing support for immunization as she seeks a role in an administration pursuing sweeping changes to vaccine guidance. Pressed by Cassidy to say vaccines do not cause autism, a debunked link that Kennedy has promoted contrary to scientific evidence, she eventually agreed they do not.

The United States has had no surgeon general since Trump took office in January 2025, and the FDA has lacked a permanent leader since Dr. Marty Makary resigned in May after clashes with White House officials.

(Reporting by Ahmed AbouleneinEditing by Bill Berkrot)